


the lights are so bright/but they never blind me

by johannes_cabal



Category: H.O.T. (Band), SECHSKIES (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Developing Friendships, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, I Don't Even Know, M/M, Pilots, What Have I Done, What Was I Thinking?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-27
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-08-08 10:17:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16427426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/johannes_cabal/pseuds/johannes_cabal
Summary: Commercial pilots AU.An Seungho is a pilot who, to his surprise, meets an unexpected colleague on his first red-eye flight.





	the lights are so bright/but they never blind me

**Author's Note:**

> I have limited knowledge of aviation, please pardon my mistakes.  
> Also, first ship thingy. I really don't know what I'm doing.  
> Written on a whim.  
> As always, "thanks" to my enabler jonny.

An Seungho stretched liberally in his seat. He found it slightly odd that he was sitting in the seat for the co-pilot, not the main captain of the flight. Maybe he would be assisting one of the seniors; maybe the famous Joon-hyung. Everyone wanted to understudy under Joon-hyung, he was the best of the best, and had seen his fair share of emergencies here and there. Joon-hyung had even famously handled a crisis on one of his flights in the nineties. His calm was unmatched. If it were true, today would be Seungho’s day.

Seungho had graduated near the top of his class, beaten by two others—one in his age group, and the other a year younger. He felt slightly bitter that someone younger than him had beaten him; it hurt his pride a little. He didn’t let it bother him too much, however, he begrudgingly accepted that the younger had talent and much promise.

Seungho briefly shut his eyes, waiting for the pilot to come in so that he could be briefed and they could discuss the flight plan. This would be a long flight, a red eye flight, from Seoul to New York. Seungho was actually quite excited by the prospect of flying to the States—it had been quite a while since he had the chance to return, let alone for work. It would be nice to spend a few days, even if it was on the opposite side of where he grew up.

“Seungho-ssi?” a familiar voice called, and Seungho straightened his back in shock. Joon-hyung’s voice was deep and booming, but this voice was softer and more high pitched.

 _Don’t tell me,_ Seungho whispered to himself.

“Jaeduck?” Seungho turned and met eyes with the youngest pilot in his batch, only a year younger and had made it into the top three in their year. “It’s been such a long time!” Jaeduck beamed, extending a hand to shake Seungho’s. Seungho’s mouth had fallen slightly open in shock, but he still managed to take Jaeduck’s hand and shake it nervously.

_Jaeduck is the pilot? Jaeduck is captain?_

He glanced over to the top of Jaeduck’s sleeves to check his rank. Four stripes. He wasn’t mistaken. “Good morning, captain,” Seungho shifted his tone to better suit the situation, but Jaeduck merely laughed in response and clapped Seungho on the back. “There’s no need to worry about that here, Seungho-ssi,” Jaeduck said, not dropping his tone either. “It’s just me. Us.”

 _Us,_ Seungho thought, the word sounding foreign in his mind. Back in pilot academy, Jaeduck and him had hardly spoken. They’d known the other existed, but didn’t go past cordial greetings when they passed each other on campus. It felt awkward because of the one year age difference and being in the same batch. Now they were going to be stuck together in the same space, on the same flight, for a solid fourteen whole hours. _Just great._ Maybe if Seungho was lucky, Jaeduck wouldn’t make much small talk, and focus on the technicalities of the long haul flight ahead.

It was around time for the plane to take off, and Jaeduck took the mic, hesitating for a second before speaking warmly into the mic, his pleasant voice sounding through the plane. _“Good morning ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard KE81 bound for New York, this is your captain Kim Jaeduck speaking, with me is my co-captain An Seungho...”_

When Jaeduck was done, he let Seungho take the rein for the English announcement, knowing that Seungho spent his childhood in the States.

The final checks were done, the cabin was secured and the control tower gave the all clear for Jaeduck to taxi towards the runway.

_“Cabin crew prepare for takeoff.”_

And thus began their fourteen hour journey.

 

Once they were up in the sky, Seungho and Jaeduck spent some time going over again some technicalities about the route, the wind direction, and so on. Seungho sensed that Jaeduck was nervous.

“First flight as captain?” Seungho asked, absentmindedly flipping through one of the thick pilot manuals. Jaeduck nodded slowly. “It feels very different…but...I’m glad I’m partnered with someone I know.” Jaeduck’s eyes crinkled into a smile, and Seungho couldn’t help but smile back.

Jaeduck leaned back in his seat. “How about you? Have you, well…” Seungho nodded. “It was short haul though. Domestic.” Jaeduck nodded. “I spent some time understudying before I got this chance. I even got to understudy Joon-hyung.”

“Joon-hyung?” Seungho sounded amazed that Jaeduck had had the opportunity to do so before him, but he supposed he ought not to be surprised by such things. Jaeduck laughed nervously. “Yeah, was quite the experience. It’s really like what we heard in the academy.” And as if reading Seungho’s mind, he continued, “You’ll get your chance soon. Don’t worry.”

“You sound very sure of that,” Seungho replied a little dryly, and Jaeduck seemed to bristle in response, looking slightly stunned. “I don’t mean anything. I guess… I’ve been waiting quite a while,” Seungho drifted off, looking to his window.

Jaeduck remained silent after a while.

 

 

The silence remained, but was only slightly broken when they had to take turns for breaks and to have their meals. The sky outside slowly turned from orange to a deep blue, and soon it was time for Jaeduck to dim the lights in the cabin.

“How many hours do we have left?” Seungho asked, barely stifling a yawn. He felt like they’d been awake forever. Jaeduck narrowed his eyes at the screen. “Just 8,” he murmured, and yawned. “It’s really contagious,” Seungho blurted and Jaeduck laughed, his eyes crinkling again.

“You know, going through all the simulations, practice and all, it’s nothing like this. There’s people going everywhere, with their own stories, and then there’s us, the crew, going from place to place.”

“Does it bore you?” Seungho said wryly. Jaeduck looked over and chuckled. “No, not at all. It’s just funny how everyone has their own stories, and they’re going to the same place but there’s a story behind it.”

“You should consider becoming a writer,” Seungho jested, and Jaeduck’s eyes lit up.”It was actually kind of a dream when I was younger...but my family preferred I do something more...concrete.”

“Ironic, since aviation is done mostly off the ground,” Seungho finished, and Jaeduck laughed heartily. For some reason, it made Seungho more relieved that Jaeduck was easing into his role, and to the mountainous task of a long haul flight.

“So uh, what have you been up to since graduating?” Seungho suddenly changed the subject, not wanting to subject Jaeduck to any more of his flat jokes.

Jaeduck sat up. “Well uh, I jumped straight into work. Not much else, actually. I really enjoy it.”

“What about back home?”

“Well, I still dance from time to time with my crew. And go back to Busan to see my family, if I have the time,” he said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

Seungho nodded. _Interesting._

“How about yourself?”

“Me? Well… I’ve kind of been looking forward to this flight, actually. I haven’t been to the States in such a long time. Grew up there, you know.” Jaeduck nodded, smiling warmly at Seungho’s longing for the place where he spent his childhood. He knew the feeling quite well.

“Are you...tired?” Seungho suddenly blurted, seeing that Jaeduck started to seem a little out of it, and Jaeduck fidgeted in his seat, blinking. “Oh, I’m fine, just uh…” “You’re tired,” Seungho smirked. “You should take a nap. Don’t worry, I’ll take over.” Jaeduck shook his head stubbornly and Seungho narrowed his eyes at him, and tossed him a blanket. “Rest. We need our captain in tip top shape. I need my captain in tip top shape.” Jaeduck widened his eyes, and took the blanket gingerly, covering himself. He shut his eyes and let sleep take over.

When Seungho realized that Jaeduck was fast asleep, he quietly got up from his seat, and adjusted Jaeduck’s blanket, making sure it was covering him properly. Jaeduck wriggled a little, adjusting to the shifting of the blanket.

Jaeduck looked...quite _cute_ , if Seungho dared think so. His features betrayed his age, and he definitely did not look like a typical captain, in the same vein of Joon-hyung and the other seniors. Seungho suddenly felt a wave of protectiveness come over him. Jaeduck didn’t have the easiest of times in the academy too.

Seungho had to admit that Jaeduck put in a lot more than others to be taken seriously. He wondered if Jaeduck had been given this assignment on purpose, a difficult transatlantic long-haul journey for his maiden flight as a newly minted captain.

Jaeduck looked the most peaceful as he slept. He didn’t have to be on guard, he didn’t need to put on airs. _Also, he had really long eyelashes—_ Tony had to stop himself here. What was he thinking? Maybe the fatigue was getting to him, making him observe strange things. He shrugged it off, and continued looking ahead.

 

Morning finally came, and Seungho knew that by now they were very near their destination. He heaved a long sigh of relief, and just then, Jaeduck was stirring awake too.

“Oh—what, oh no. Why didn’t you wake me up,” The first words out of Jaeduck’s mouth were frantic, and Seungho hushed him. “You needed the rest,” Seungho replied casually. “Besides, I can technically fill in your job too,” he shrugged.

Seungho was right. Technically he could, and Jaeduck sighed, thanking the cosmos for not putting him with someone more junior for his first flight as captain, which would have added to his anxiety, with all the questions and uncertainties. Seungho was experienced and could have easily commandeered the flight on his own. He felt bad, being the one in the captain’s seat and Seungho relegated next to him.

“Thank you, Seungho-ssi,” Jaeduck mumbled, rubbing the side of his head.

“Seungho- _hyung_.” Jaeduck widened his eyes.

“You should call me hyung,” Seungho corrected him, a twinkle in his eye.

“Alright,” Jaeduck replied, half-smiling, “Seungho-hyung.”

 

The breakfast service was done and dusted, and Jaeduck received the signal for clearance for him to land at John F. Kennedy Airport.

Now Jaeduck’s anxiety began to skyrocket. The flight had been largely smooth with a little bumps here and there, but it went well, also thanks to Seungho’s help. But this was the important part, landing. Jaeduck was determined to get this right, all the more because Seungho was next to him.

“Relax,” Seungho said gently. “You’ll do just fine.”

Jaeduck began the sequence to land, his lips pursed into a thin line; concentrating solely focused on landing as smoothly as he could. Seungho was next to him, making sure that things were going as per what they were supposed to do.

The wheels were out, and then, just as quickly, they touched the ground. Jaeduck felt that wave of adrenaline as the plane touched the tarmac, that wave of high speed before the plane slowed to a halt.

“Congratulations, captain,” Seungho patted his shoulder, his warm tone genuine. “Well done.”

Jaeduck let out a long exhale. “Thank you Seungho- _ss-_ hyung,” he quickly corrected himself, beaming back at Seungho.

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to New York,” Jaeduck announced over the system, his smile of relief evident in his voice.

Seungho grinned, looking out the window.

 

They finally disembarked from the plane, cleared immigration and got their things from the conveyor belt. The other crew members were chattering cheerfully and praising Jaeduck for doing well on his first flight as a captain.

“So, do you have any plans in New York? Since we’ll all be here for a while,” Seungho asked Jaeduck, who pouted thoughtfully, and shook his head. “I’ve never been to the States, actually.” Seungho smiled, putting on his aviators. “I actually have to visit a friend, but I do have time to spare. Wanna take a look around the city?” He placed a hand round Jaeduck’s shoulders.

Jaeduck smiled, and felt a slight blush form on his cheeks.

“Sure, hyung.”

“Then, welcome to New York, Jaeduck.”


End file.
